On this Day: August 14

On this Day August 14

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1940 – Singer Dash Crofts of the 70s pop duo Seals & Crofts

1941 – Singer-songwriter David Crosby, who co-founded the influential folk-rock groups the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash (d. 2023)

1945 – Emmy and Grammy-winning comedian, actor, musician and “SNL” alum Steve Martin (“The Jerk,” “Three Amigos,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Roxanne,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “Parenthood,” “Father of the Bride,” “It’s Complicated”)

1946 – Actress Susan St. James (“The Name of the Game,” “McMillan & Wife,” “Kate & Allie”)

1947 – Author Danielle Steel, who has written dozens of bestselling romantic novels

1959 – Oscar-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden (“Pollack,” “Mystic River,” “American Gun,” “The Mist,” “Into the Wild”)

1959 – NBA Hall of Famer-turned-entrepreneur Magic Johnson, born Earvin Johnson, Jr. 

1960 – Soprano singer Sarah Brightman, who played the role of Jemima in the musical “Cats” and Christine in “The Phantom of the Opera”

1961 – Actress Susan Olsen, best known for playing youngest child Cindy on TV’s “The Brady Bunch”

1966 – Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress Halle Berry (“Boomerang,” “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,” “Monster’s Ball,” “The X-Men” movies, “Die Another Day,” “Cloud Atlas,” “The Call”)

1983 – Actress Mila Kunis (“That ’70s Show,” “Family Guy,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Black Swan,” “Book of Eli,” “Friends with Benefits,” “Ted,” “Oz the Great and Powerful”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1935 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law. The measure guarantees an income for unemployed and retired Americans. 

1973 – The U.S. halts the bombing of Cambodia, ending 12 years of combat in Indochina. 

1974 – The U.S. Congress grants Americans the right to once again own gold, reversing a ban on private ownership imposed in the 1930s. 

1980 – President Jimmy Carter accepts the Democratic presidential nomination, but ultimately loses his re-election bid to Republican Ronald Reagan that November.

1988 – Race car driver and Ferrari auto founder Enzo Ferrari dies at the age of 90.

2003 – A massive power outage leaves 50 million people across the northeastern U.S. and parts of Canada in the dark for hours, some stranded in subways and elevators. The cause is determined to be tree branches interfering with power lines in Ohio, triggering an explosion that crippled an outdated power grid.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1965 – Sonny & Cher start a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Got You Babe,” the first single off the pop duo’s debut album, “Look at Us.”

1971 – The Who release their fifth studio album, “Who’s next,” which contains the smash “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” The album peaks at No. 4. Decades later, many music critics regard it as the British rock band’s greatest work.

1976 – “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” by Elton John and Kiki Dee, holds the top spot on the pop chart, where it remains for four weeks.

1982 – Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” is in the midst of a six-week domination of the singles chart. It is the theme from the movie “Rocky III.”

1985 – Michael Jackson outbids Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney to secure the ATV Music Publishing catalog. At $47.5 million, Jackson gains the rights to more than 250 songs written by McCartney and John Lennon as well as tracks by Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and others.

1993 – UB40’s cover of the 1961 Elvis Presley song “Can’t Help Falling in Love” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

1999 – Christina Aguilera rules the singles chart with “Genie in a Bottle.”

2004 – “Slow Motion,” by Juvenile featuring Soulja Slim, begins its second and final week on top of the pop chart.

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On this Day: August 7

On this Day August 7

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1903 –  Paleontologist, archaeologist and anthropologist Louis Leakey (d. 1972)

1904 – Nobel Peace Prize–winning academic and U.N. diplomat Ralph Bunche (d. 1971)

1942 – Pop-country singer B.J. Thomas (“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” “Don’t Worry Baby”)

1942 – Grammy-winning writer and “A Prairie Home Companion” creator-host Garrison Keillor

1955 – Actor Wayne Knight, best known as Newman from the NBC sitcom “Seinfeld” 

1960 – Actor David Duchovny, best known for playing Special Agent Fox Mulder in “The X-Files”

1963 – Actor Harold Perrineau (“Oz,” “28 Weeks Later,” “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolutions,” “The Killing Jar,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Lost”)

1975 – Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron (“The Devil’s Advocate,” “Mighty Joe Young,” “The Cider House Rules,” “Monster,” “North Country,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Atomic Blonde”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1782 – General George Washington, commander in chief of the Continental Army, creates the “Badge for Military Merit” — a decoration for valor consisting of a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk with the word “Merit” stitched across the face. Only three soldiers were awarded the badge before it fell into disuse. It was revived in 1932 as the Purple Heart, consisting of a bust of Washington below a coat of arms.

1959 – The sheaves of wheat image on the U.S. penny is replaced with the Lincoln Memorial. 

1959 – NASA launches the Explorer 6 satellite to study trapped radiation, galactic cosmic rays and geomagnetism in the upper atmosphere. It is the first spacecraft to transmit images of Earth from orbit.

1972 – Yogi Berra, Sandy Koufax, Lefty Gomez and Early Wynn are inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. 

1974 – After six years of planning and preparation, French high-wire artist Philippe Petit walks a tightrope a quarter mile above the streets of Manhattan between the World Trade Center towers.

1990 – President George H. W. Bush orders the launch of Operation Desert Shield in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on August 2. The order prepares American troops to join an international coalition in the war against Iraq that would be launched as Operation Desert Storm in January 1991.

2005 – Longtime ABC News anchor and reporter Peter Jennings loses his battle with cancer at the age of 67.

2005 – The seven-person crew of a small Russian submarine (Priz) is rescued by an unmanned British submersible that freed the sub after its propellers became entangled in fishing nets deep in Pacific waters.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1965 – “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” by Herman’s Hermits is the best-selling single in the U.S. It’s the band’s second Billboard No. 1.

1971 – The Bee Gees achieve a milestone when “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” becomes the trio’s first No. 1 single. The song holds the top spot for four weeks.

1976 – Heartbreak is the theme of another No. 1 single: “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John and Kiki Dee, which remains on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks.

1982 – “Eye of the Tiger,” from the movie “Rocky III,” is midway through a six-week domination of the pop chart. The track garners Survivor a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group With Vocal.

1982 – Fleetwood Mac kicks off five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with “Mirage,” the band’s third chart-topping album, which contains the Top-20 hits “Hold Me” and “Gypsy.”

1993 – UB40 is mid-way through a seven-week occupation of the top spot on the singles chart with their cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” 

1999 – Christina Aguilera rules the pop chart with “Genie in a Bottle.” The track holds at No. 1 for five weeks.

2004 – “Slow Motion,” by rapper Juvenile featuring Soulja Slim, kicks off two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

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